BREXIT could have a knock-on effect on the final funding needed to make Oxford's flood alleviation scheme a reality, it has been warned.

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price revealed the potential risk yesterday as the Environment Agency revealed its final route for the 5km channel.

The one-metre deep conduit, which will involve excavating 400,000 cubic metres of soil, will protect 1,800 homes in the city from flooding

During floods, water will drain naturally into the basin, reducing the risk of the worst one-in-100-year flood event to just one per cent for 1,620 of those houses.

Properties which were flooded in January and February 2014 when Abingdon and Botley road were underwater will be protected in the future against the same level of rainfall.

New flood protection walls have been added to the scheme north of houses on Botley Road and east of houses off Abingdon Road, which will offer further protection.

Towns and villages on the Thames downstream of Oxford have also been promised their flood risk will not be increased.

With £96m funding already pledged, the EA hopes to get some of the remaining £24m from Oxford businesses based on the benefits the scheme could bring to the city.

But Mr Price said Britain's vote to leave the EU might well hit those firms.

He explained: "The major beneficiaries from this scheme are big businesses in the city like BMW, Siemens and Oxford University, and we have begun discussions with them.

"But there is a potential implication from Britain's vote to leave the EU because some of the businesses we are talking to don't just derive funding from the EU, like the university, but may also be dependent on trade with EU countries.

"Those countries might be willing to engage with the UK if we exit, but that depends on how talks go about a free trade agreement.

"The potential risk to investment in this county are huge."

Mr Price said there was still more funding to be applied for from Government agencies, but warned that leaving the EU could affect those as well.

But Environment Agency project director Joanna Larmour stressed yesterday that leaving the EU would not have any effect on the funding already pledged.

Oxfordshire County Council deputy leader Rodney Rose, who represents the county on the flood scheme partnership, warned that to get Treasury approval for the scheme the EA will still have to present an air-tight plan for how the channel will be maintained over the next 60 years at least, if not 100, to keep it functioning effectively.

Oxford Flood Alliance has said that the channel would "only be as good as its maintenance".

Alliance member Nick Hills said yesterday his group was still looking at forming a partnership, charity or trust which can be entrusted with managing the channel in perpetuity; making sure it is not overgrown and continues to work effectively as a sink for flood water.

The Environment Agency will present its final plan to the public today at Oxford Town Hall from 2pm to 8pm with 3D videos of the route.

It hopes to submit a planning application late next year and start the three-year construction in 2018.

One group who will be delighted with today's route revelation are the boat dwellers who live at Weirs Mill Orchard.

In one of the EA's previous route options, their stretch of the Thames riverbank would be carved up to widen the river so it could take more water.

The EA said yesterday that this final route would be cheaper, and that Abingdon Road homes would be better protected with the new flood protection wall that is planned.

See a video of the final route with more explanation on our homepage at oxfordmail.co.uk